(GPB News) — President Trump’s executive order impacting mail-in voting is back in litigation — and back on hold. But elections experts in Georgia say many of the proposed changes will face legal limitations.
The order asks states to send lists of eligible voters to the U.S. Postal Service and that a postal service rule allows it to deny ballots to states that don’t comply. Gabe Sterling, the Secretary of State’s office’s Director of Special Projects, said Georgians are still able to vote by mail, and he does not anticipate any major changes.
That’s because USPS doesn’t have the authority to decide who can vote, and the proposed changes are still tied up in court.
“There is something called the Purcell Doctrine, which is basically, if there’s election law changes that are litigation, you can’t implement them — regardless of how it turns out — close to an election,” Sterling said, adding that the doctrine has been enforced “before as far as 10 months away from an election.”
Sterling did not rule out a lawsuit if Georgia voters are affected by Trump’s order.
The state’s first absentee ballots will go out to military and overseas voters Sept. 15.
This article appears in partnership with GPB News
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